The Muted Rose
by RamRam12
Summary: Crippled. Disabled. Handicapped. Being born without something most others have would be considered a tragedy by most. They haven't lost anything though, so why pity them? The one's we should pity should be the people who have the ability to do something, but can't because they're held back by themselves. At least that's how Summer Rose viewed it.
1. Prologue: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

**Prologue**

* * *

Crippled. Disabled. Handicapped. Being born without something most others have would be considered a tragedy by most. They haven't lost anything though, so why pity them? The one's we should pity should be the people who have the ability to do something, but can't because they're held back by themselves. At least that's how Summer Rose viewed it.

Summer Rose had always seen everyone as an equal no matter who they were. She had never viewed people who were different as lesser, or sought to single them out and make their lives a living hell. No. Instead, she did the opposite and included them, interacted with them, and eventually dedicated her life to them as a physiologist. She was always the life of the room and brought a smile to everyone's face no matter who they were. Her life was perfect in a way. She had a house and a dog and her dream job. Everything was perfect...

* * *

 _Hey Sums... I'm gonna be straightforward with you. The little bundle of joy before you is named Yang. Yang Xiao Long to be exact. She's about 6 months old and needs a mother since I can't be that for her. I tried, but I'm just not cut out to be a mother, but I know you've always wanted a kid. Take good care of my sunny little dragon please._

\- _Raven Branwen_

That was the note attached to the basket that was found outside of Summer's front door one brisk December night. Quiet whining and whimpers shook Summer from her thoughts as she bent down to pull back a blanket in the basket to reveal a baby with golden locks and lilac eyes. She stared at the child for awhile before the baby woke up and started to stare back at her before it started laughing. The warm, melodic sound instantly brought a face eating grin to Summer's face as she picked the child up out of the blanket and turned around to head back inside, looking down at the small bundle of life in her arms.

"Hello Yang. Welcome to your new home."

* * *

 ** _Two Year Skip_**

* * *

"Uncle Qrowwwwwwww! When can mommy come out and play with me! She's been in there a long time!" A rowdy little golden haired girl whines while hanging off the arm of a man with blackish silver hair and big bags under his eyes. The girl continues to pour up at him waiting for a response as the man looks at the kid and lets out a sigh before glancing towards the kid and raising an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't be too much longer Yang. I don't think Mommy will be able to play for awhile though, but you'll be able to see her soon." Qrow responds as he glances back towards the door where things had finally quieted down from the previous sounds of screams from pain, anxiety fueled thoughts running through his head.

"Well I wanna see her NOW!" An annoyed and fed up three year old yang declared before releasing her Uncle's arm and dashing towards the door excitedly, barreling under the staff in the room who left out confused yells as she did.

"Yang! Get back here!" Qrow shouted as he dashed after the girl, surprised at how quick she was as she remained just out of his reach before she pushed past the door to Summer's room. He quickly followed, apologizing to the startled and now annoyed staff who were waiting for him to get his niece under control.

"Mommy! Whatcha holding there?" Yang asked Summer, having climbed onto the bed and was now looking at a little bundle of blankets she was holding in her arms with newfound curiosity. Ignoring her uncle telling her to get off the bed she reaches a hand over to the bundle of blankets and tugged at it gently, the bundle falling apart a little to reveal what laid hidden inside.

"Yang I said get down from th-" Qrow began while he glared at Yang, stomping towards the bed before he stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at what was hidden inside the bundle. He couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could Yang who had a similar expression as her Uncle did at the moment until they realized Summer was chuckling at them.

"Summer! You're okay!" Qrow exclaimed, completely disregarding what had been inside the bundle as he rushed forward towards Summer, tears in the corners of his eyes as he grabbed her free hand and squeezed it tightly between his own hands. Summer gave a small nod to Qrow, smiling at him before looking towards Yang who was still looking at the bundle with awe and curiosity. With a chuckle Summer brought the bundle a little closer to Yang while she gently pulled her hand away from Qrow who reluctantly let it go to watch the interaction between the mother and her daughter.

"Hey my little sunny dragon. I want you to meet someone who I hope you'll help mommy take care of and protect. She's gonna need anyone she can get to help her as she grows. So say hi to her Yang." Summer said happily, a tear streaming down her cheek as she fully revealed a small girl's face to both Yang and Qrow. A rosey little face was revealed to the pair along with a small pair of twitching wolf ears on top of her head.

Yang looked at Summer as she spoke before frowning as a tear fell down her face which made her crawl towards her and rub her small hand across her cheek before smiling brightly. "Mommy no cry! Yang is here! And I always help mommy!" Yang told Summer with a huge smile before turning back to look at the small, sleeping girl in the blankets. She crawled back towards her before she timidly reached out with a hand to place her hand on the girl's cheek which caused the girl to wake up slightly as she looked up at Yang in a daze with her silver eyes before yawning and dozing back to sleep, leaning against the older girl's hand.

"She likes me! And she's small! And cute! And she has fuzzy ears! I like her mommy! I'll protect her!" Yang squealed excitedly, causing the smaller girl to jolt fully awake from the loud noises before tears started streaming down her face. Yang quickly retracted her hand, worrying she had done something wrong as she frantically looked at Summer, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I hurt her mommy? I-I didn't mean to!" Yang cries out as tears start to fall down her face.

"No, no, no sweetie! You didn't hurt her at all! You were just a little loud and startled her! Don't worry, I'll calm her down, why don't you and uncle Qrow go get the doctor for me? Can you do that for mommy sweet pea?" Summer reassures the small, upset child who calms down as Summer continues to talk before nodding with a sniffle before holding her arms up for Qrow to pick her up. Qrow however, being the clueless drunk he was had no idea what to do until Summer told him. After pretending like he knew what Yang had wanted he picked the girl up and they made their way out to go find the doctor.

Summer let out a sigh of relief at how well that had gone before feeling the small Faunus in her arms stir a bit causing her to return her attention to the little one. Her gaze was met by the little one in her arms, stunning silver eyes gazing up at her making her heart melt a bit before she used her free hand to lightly rub one of the girl's ears gently. The girl's expression went from drowsy to utter happiness in less than a second as Summer rubbed her ear, chuckling at the sight but also growing increasingly worried. While the sight before her was heartwarming it was also troublesome since the girl wasn't making any noise whatsoever. She was almost certain that a baby should be making noises and lots of it, but the baby in her arms remained silent even when she had been upset and crying which is why she had sent Yang and Qrow off to find the doctor whom walked through the door as her face began to scrunch up with worry.

"You needed me Miss Rose?" The doctor asks Summer with some concern in his voice as he looks at the small Faunus who was still silently enjoying the ear rubs she was receiving.

"Yes. Shouldn't she be making noises or crying? She started crying earlier when she woke up, but she didn't make any noise, just tears?" Summer asked the doctor while stopping her ministrations to the small girl's ear which must have upset the girl because she reached out with her hand towards the retreating hand and tugged on it gently, a frown on her face. The doctor watched the interaction with curiosity and surprise before returning his attention to Summer.

"Well yes she should. It's unusual for a baby not to make ANY noise whatsoever unless..." the doctor trailed off while shifting his gaze to the Faunus child whose ear was twitching furiously as she continued to tug on her mother's finger, trying to get her to rub her ear again.

"Unless what? What's wrong with my daughter?!" Summer asked as her fear grew, thinking something was wrong with her daughter. She began to hyperventilate until she felt a hand on her shoulder giving her a reassuring squeeze. She looked up to see Qrow with a small smile and Yang sucking her thumb as she clung to her uncle's shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay Sums. Whatever is wrong with her, if there is anything wrong, we'll work through together. As a family." Qrow said confidently as he gave Summer's shoulder a squeeze again before he gave Yang a little shake, grinning at her. "Right Yang?" He asked her with a huge grin as she lit up, pulling her thumb out of her mouth to look at Summer. "Yah! A family!" Yang repeated, smiling brightly at Summer from Qrow's shoulder. Tears started streaming down Summer's face as she nodded at both of them before turning back to face her little Faunus with a new sense of determination as she leaned in and pressed a kiss between the girl's pair of ears, making the girl smile up at her. She then looked up with Qrow's hand still resting on her shoulder.

"... It's possible that she's mute due to a birth defect, but that seems unlikely seeing how we would have been able to detect a defect like that during an ultrasound visit." The doctor finally explained, confusion written across his face as he went over to a computer to pull up the ultrasound images until he heard someone clearing their throat.

"Uhhhhh... I didn't know I was pregnant with her until I went into labor 10 hours ago, so there aren't any ultrasound pictures..." Summer guiltily explained to the doctor who just nodded as she explained as Qrow sat down with Yang in a chair on the side of the hospital bed as she began to doze off since it was way past her bedtime.

"Well Miss Rose... I still highly doubt she has any defect at least physically because any defect that would happen around that area would also effect her breathing and she wouldn't be as healthy or be able to breath this easily if she did. I'm thinking she might have a mental handicap of some sort if anything. It's also possible that she's just a quiet baby and is perfectly fine. Honestly there is no way to tell right now until she grows a bit and can start learning to speak and such." The doctor explained to both Summer and Qrow before taking his leave for the mismatched family to talk.

"Well I guess all we can do it wait it out Sums. I mean, the kid doesn't seem like she's suffering or anything." Qrow said as he rubbed the small girl's ear making the girl smile widely.

"Yah I guess your right Qrow. I just want her to be happy and healthy." Summer said as she smiled at the sight before her. Qrow holding one of his nieces over his shoulder who was passed out while rubbing the ear of the other with his free hand all with a big smile on his face.

"Oh yah, what's the squirt's name?" Qrow asked curiously as he removed his hand from the girl's ear since she had fallen asleep.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose." Summer said proudly, extremely happy with the name she chose for the small, sleeping Faunus now nestled between her arm and her chest. "And I can't wait to see what she becomes."

* * *

Heyo! This is my first story EVER! So any feedback that's constructive is very appreciated! I'll try to update at least once a week if enough of you guys want me to continue this!

EDIT : Sooooo, This is an RWBY AU where Ruby will be a Faunus and mute. Additionally, Taiyang isn't part of Ruby and Yang's lives and isn't their father. Also, it is possible to go 9 months without knowing your pregnant especially if you didn't plan the pregnancy or have never had a kid before. Let's just say Summer is a little clueless and attributed any pregnancy symptoms to other causes such as food poisoning and such.


	2. The Muted Rose: Q&A

So! Quite a few of you have been asking questions about the universe and how things have happened so far so I'm gonna do my best to answer them here without spoiling the story!

The universe still has hunters and huntresses, but Summer wasn't a huntress in this universe.

Taiyang will still be involved in the story and IS Yang's father, but he won't be taking care of them as they grow up.

Ruby is a Faunus due to her father which I have not introduced yet and probably won't for awhile. Qrow was just there for emotional support for Summer in the hospital since she had no one else.

Also Neo will play a big part in this story and I've been contemplating making this a Ruby x Neo instead of Blake just because Neo will already be extremely involved in this story.

Additionally, There will be multiple other changes to the storyline and such, so it won't really be following the original storyline very much.

If you guys have anymore questions feel free to ask, and I've decided that I'll be updating this every Thursday evening with a new chapter.


	3. The Muted Rose: Chapter 1

Summer never got to see who Ruby would become. Her passing was unexpected and sudden and tore Qrow to pieces.

 _Summer had been meeting with one of her frequent patients, a middle aged man with depression when he snapped and pulled a gun out and demanded medicine from Summer. She had refused him and he had pulled the trigger, planting a bullet into Summer's chest before he freaked out and shot himself in the head. A fellow physiologist had heard the commotion and rushed into the room to find Summer clutching her chest and the man dead on the floor. One 911 call later and Summer was in a hospital bed again as she was slowly dying. The bullet had punctured her heart's wall, and she had lost too much blood to go into surgery without a high probability of death. So she opted to wait for her family so she could say her goodbyes before even attempting the surgery because she'd be dammed if she didn't even try. It wasn't long before a commotion could be heard outside the door before the door burst open. A disheveled and sweaty Qrow stood in the doorway with a 4 year old Yang and a 1 year old Ruby in each of his arms. Summer smiles weakly at the sight before Qrow rushes to the side of the bed, placing the girls on the bed next to their mom._

 _"Goddammit Summer. You can't give my heart a break can you?" Qrow sadly chuckled as tears streamed down his face, dripping onto the sheets below his face as he clutched Summer's hand._

 _"Now where's the fun in that Qrow?" Summer said weakly giving him a smile before she turned her attention to the two small girls beside her. Yang was watching Summer with wide eyes, able to understand that something was wrong while Ruby was sucking on her thumb as her ears flicked around lazily, completely oblivious to what was happening. Summer smiled at her daughters before motioning for them to come to her as Yang timidly crawled over to her. Once she was within reach Summer scooped the fiery blonde into her arms before doing the same to Ruby._

 _"Yang my sunny little dragon and Ruby my sweet little rose bud. Mommy is going to be leaving for awhile to a wonderful place where you can color all over the walls and can eat cookies all day long!" Summer explains to the girls in a happy tone, not wanting to worry them. It works as both children's eyes widen with wonder at the place being described._

 _"I wanna go mommy!" Yang shouts excitedly, but she calms down as she notices her mom wasn't done speaking._

 _"Sorry darling, but you can't go there just yet. You'll get to go one day once your ready. You should know that mommy will be safe and waiting for you girls when you do join me though. Until then, mommy needs both of you to be good and kind. Can you do that for me?" Summer asks as tears start to stream down her face from both physical and emotional pain as she stares down at the two precious bundles of life in her arms. Yang and Ruby nod quickly as Summer let's out a weak sigh of relief before everything went black._

Ruby woke with a start at the dream? Memory? She didn't exactly know what it was, but she honestly didn't care seeing how it had just interrupted her precious sleep. She frowned in annoyance before turning to look at the clock beside her bed which read 5:30 am. With a yawn she begrudgingly pulled herself out from under her warm and safe blankets to get ready for her first day of the next four years of her life. She glanced to her left to see her sister Yang hanging out of her bed with drool dripping down the corner of her mouth which made Ruby smile as she approached her and leaned down to poke the blonde in the stomach. The reaction was instant as the older girl's eyes snapped open and she tended up, falling out of the bed with a loud crash which made Ruby grin evilly.

"F u c k." Yang groaned as she rubbed the spot where her head had hit the ground before turning her head to glare at Ruby who was smirking proudly at her work. "The heck Ruby? Why did you wake me up?" Yang asked as she detangled herself from the bed sheets her legs were wrapped in. I snapped my fingers to get her attention before pointing at the clock which now read 5:40. Her eyes widened before she scrambled to get ready. Ruby wanted to laugh at the sight, but didn't as she moved to get dressed as well. With her much shorter hair and simpler clothing she was done way before Yang, so she made her way downstairs with her bags that she had packed beforehand. At the bottom of the stairs Ruby was met by her dad, Taiyang, who was currently having a tug-o-war match with Zwei, the family dog, over a destroyed looking sock.

"Zwei! Let! Go! Of! The! Sock!" Tai growled at the small black and white corgi on the other end of the sock who growled back at him before letting go suddenly. Ruby was treated to a glorious sight of her dad tumbling backwards with the sock before promptly hitting his head against the wall with a resounding smack that could probably been heard a block over. Ruby doubled over as she silently laughed her head off which caused her not to notice as her dad got right in front of her before lightly smacking her in the head with the slobber covered sock. Ruby's face changed from a look of laughter to a look of pure horror at what she was just hit with before she stuck her tongue out at her dad and stalked off towards the kitchen to grab something to eat.

"Good morning to you too little rose!" Tai called out to his daughter before making a sound of disgust at the drenched sock, shooting a glare at the small corgi who had situated himself on the couch.

It wasn't long until Yang came bounding down the stairs and made a beeline to the kitchen where Ruby was making some toast for the both of them since there was no way they'd have enough time to eat here if they were going to make the next shuttle to Beacon. Tai had rented a little apartment for a week before the girls actually went to school so they could familiarize themselves with the area beforehand. The place had a working stove so Ruby couldn't complain about it as she slid a runny egg onto a piece of toast for Yang who promptly scooped it up and take a huge bite out of it.

"Dis is da best!" Yang exclaimed with her mouth full of food which made Ruby smile as her ear twitched happily. Yang noticed and gave the twitching ear a rub with made Ruby's eyes close as a wave of happiness ran through her from the contact. Tai watched the sisters from the doorway of the kitchen before noticing the time on the clock.

"Get your butts in gear girls or you're going to miss the shuttle!" Tai called out to the girls which put both of them back in motion as Ruby shoved her own piece of toast in her mouth and turned the stove off before scrambling to grab all of her bags. Yang copied Ruby, but had a lot less trouble holding all of her bags due to her height and strength compared to the smaller Faunus girl who was practically dragging half of her luggage across the ground as she exited the apartment. Tai watched the pair as they made their way down the street with smiles on their faces before he headed back inside to look at Zwei who was looking out the window at the fading outline of the two girls with a whine. Tai leaned down to pat the pooch on the head before sighing.

"I miss them already too buddy."

Somehow Ruby and Yang managed to reach the shuttle stop early, leaving 10 minutes for them to wait for the next shuttle to arrive. Which would turn out to be a challenge for a certain energetic girl with red tipped hair as she bounced up and down excitedly next to the sign for the shuttle to Beacon. Yang had left Ruby in charge of the luggage while she went to grab herself a coffee and a chocolate milk for Ruby.

Ruby practically looked like a puppy waiting to be given a treat, and the addition of her wolf ears didn't help to deter this image as people continued to glance at the energetic Faunus. Ruby was looking at all the faces at the terminal that were waiting for the same shuttle because she figured that at least some of them might be new students like her and her sister. A majority of them looked like they were returning students whom she noticed were looking at her curiously which made her a little nervous.

She noticed two girls walking towards her and she immediately shrunk as they approached, her ears flattened against her head as she got a good look at the two girls now standing in front of her. One of them had a pair of bunny ears and brown hair as well as a fluffy little bunny tail to accompany the ears. She gave off a welcoming and calming vibe as she smiled down at the young wolf Faunus.

The same could not be said about the other girl however who was glaring slightly at the younger girl with her piercing amber colored eyes. She was wearing a bow that Ruby could only assume was hiding a pair of ears of some kind considering they both smelled like Faunus. Ruby was practically trembling at this point as she shifted her gaze between the two girls.

"Hello there! You're obviously a first year aren't you?" The bunny girl asked Ruby gently, looking at her curiously.

Ruby stared at the pair in front of her before nodding.

"Well my friend here is a first year too! Right Blake?" The bunny girl pushed the girl named Blake forward a bit and she stumbled before regaining her balance and blushing lightly.

"Hi..." Blake said quietly to Ruby who immediately perked up and looked at Blake curiously before frowning slightly. Blake and the bunny girl looked at her funnily before the bunny girl spoke again.

"Anddddd my name is Velvet! And your name issssss?" Velvet asked Ruby as she placed her head on Blake's shoulder, waiting for a response. Ruby began to panic mentally as her mouth repeatedly opened and closed without releasing a noise which caused the pair in front of her to look at her in confusion. Luckily Yang came to Ruby's rescue as she slid in beside her and handed her a bottle of chocolate milk before looking at the girls who had been talking to her sister.

"Oh! Hey there! Blake and I were just saying hello to your..." Velvet trailed off, unsure of the blonde's relationship to the small Faunus.

"Sister." Yang deadpanned to the bunny Faunus as she turned to see what Ruby thought of the two in front of them. She was surprised to see Ruby's hands fidgeting, indicating she wanted to sign and by the looks of it she wanted to do it badly. Yang lightly tapped Ruby's shoulder which brought the two stranger's attention to the smaller girl as she began to sign rapidly to her sister.

 **The bunny Faunus is Velvet and the other girl is Blake. They came over to say hi to me, and I wanted to say hi so now you can say hi for me!**

Ruby wiggled excitedly as Yang nodded before turning back to face the confused pair.

"Ruby says hi and that's she's happy to meet you Blake and Velvet." Yang says with a laugh as she looks at the pair's expressions of pure confusion until Blake raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Sign language." Blake stated which made Velvet let out a long "oh" of realization. Ruby looked at the two girls as she nervously fiddled with the edge of the cape her uncle had given her. Ruby hoped the pair wouldn't be scared off just because she shouldn't talk like everyone else. Yang was watching the reactions of the girls in front of her carefully in case they decided they didn't like it and wanted to hurt Ruby, but instead she watched as Blake approached Ruby before smiling at the younger Faunus.

"That's pretty neat Ruby." Blake said to Ruby who immediately whipped her head up to grin widely at the girl before she was tackled by the wolf Faunus in a... wolf hug? The younger girl had wrapped her arms tightly around the older girl's stomach and was nuzzling her face against it as her own way to say thanks. Yang and Velvet laughed at the sight of the small wolf Faunus nuzzling against the obviously uncomfortable older girl who was awkwardly standing there stiffly until the girl finally released Blake from Ruby's cuddle torture.

"Well that was a thing." Yang said with a chuckle which caused Blake and Velvet to join in as Ruby finished drinking her chocolate milk.

"If you don't mind me asking, is Ruby mute?" Velvet asked cautiously, not wanting to overstep her boundaries. Yang let out a sigh as she crossed her arms before taking a glance at Ruby immediately nodded to let her tell them.

"Ruby can physically talk. Her voice, throat, mouth and everything she would need to talk are fully functioning and healthy. However, something in her brain prevents Ruby from being able to talk. Most doctors say she just chooses not too, but Ruby has told me multiple times that she wishes she could talk like everyone else, but she can't no matter how hard she tries to." Yang explains to the girls with tears in her eyes. Ruby latches onto the older girl's arm and nuzzles against it in an attempt to comfort her which makes Yang chuckle before she lifted the girl off the ground who was still attached to her arm.

"Ruby learned sign language instead to communicate with our father and I, but she doesn't sign often so you guys should feel special that she wanted to talk to you." Yang says with a smirk as Ruby's face flushed a bright red as she released Yang's arm to return to the ground. Yang grinned widely at Ruby who's ears were flattened against her head in embarrassment before she scurried away from her annoying sister who called after her. Ruby wiggled between people's legs as she scurried through the terminal until she bumped into a small girl who went toppling forward into the ground. Ruby started to panic as she looked at the small girl she had knocked over.

The girl had tricolored hair, brown, pink, and white along with a matching outfit. She had already sat up and was now looking at Ruby with a glare on her face before she stood up. She stood 2 inches shorter than Ruby, but that didn't stop Ruby from freezing up at the glare she was receiving from the girl. The girl didn't say anything to Ruby which struck Ruby as odd since most people would have yelled at her for one reason or another. The Neapolitan colored girl raised an eyebrow when Ruby didn't make any attempt at an apology which made Ruby flush with embarrassment as she unintentionally started signing to the girl.

 **I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to knock you over I was just running from my sister because she was being mean, and I'm really rea-**

The small girl in front of Ruby reached out to grab the Faunus's hands to stop her before she smiled at Ruby which made Ruby feel funny before the girl released her hands.

 **Its okay.**

Ruby froze as she saw the small girl smile up at her as she signed. Ruby didn't know what to do with herself and just stared at the girl until the girl waved at Ruby and walked away. It was a good minute until Ruby finally came to her senses and could form coherent thoughts again and they were all screaming at Ruby for freezing up in front of the first person she'd met that knew sign language.

Yang, Blake, and Velvet found Ruby sitting on a bench while she continuously hit her head over and over again with her hand. All three of them raised an eyebrow at the sight before Yang led the way to Ruby who continued what she was doing until Yang reached forward and grabbed Ruby's hand, effectively stopping her from continuing. Ruby looked up at Yang before glaring and ripping her hand out of Yang's grasp which made Yang frown.

"What happened Rubes?" Yang asked as she sat down beside the obviously upset Ruby whose ears were flicking around rapidly as she avoided eye contact with Yang. Blake and Velvet watched the interaction between the sisters, curious about what could have upset the young wolf Faunus so much. Ruby scratched at one of her legs nervously before she slowly started signing to Yang.

 **I met someone when I ran from you. She was smaller than me and had tricolored hair, but that's beside the point. She could do sign language and when she did I froze up. I fricking froze up Yang. The first person I've ever met beside you and dad that knows sign language , and I freeze up and she walks off. I'm such an idiot...**

Yang smiled at Ruby while rubbing small circles on her back to calm her down.

"Ruby, I know don't know if you'll ever see this girl again, but it's entirely possible that if she was in this terminal that she's heading to Beacon too. Even if she doesn't at least you got to meet her right?" Yang reassures Ruby while she stands up, pulling Ruby with her as she perked back up at the possibility of the Neapolitan colored girl going to the same school. She smiles at Yang before giving her a hug that's interrupted by the sound of someone coughing, and turned to find Blake grinning at us.

"How touching, but if you two don't hurry up we're going to miss the shuttle!" Blake yelled at the sisters before dashing after her bunny pal that had already began running towards the shuttle.

"CRAP! COME ON RUBY!" Yang yelled at Ruby as she began booking it towards her bags while Ruby smiled and activated her semblance, zipping past her sister and grabbing her luggage before dragging it onto the shuttle. Yang made it to the shuttle with not a second to spare as the doors closed behind her and she collapsed into a pile of blonde hair and bags as Velvet, Blake, and even Ruby, in her own way, laughed at Yang.

"You. Guys. Suck." Yang panted out while playfully glaring at the trio as the shuttle began its journey towards Beacon.

I decided that Tai is Yang's father who didn't know Yang was born until Summer died and ended up taking the girls in after Qrow dissolved into a drunken mess due to Summer's passing.

 _Italics_ \- Flashback

 **Bold** \- Signing


	4. The Muted Rose: Bonus Neo

Neapolitan, aka Neo, had never been one for friends, or other people actually. Having grown up in a less than functional household had made her reclusive and timid over the years. With her father dead her mother had turned to alcohol and was rarely home. This left a 9 year old Neo with no one to talk to or interact with for days or even weeks at a time, so when Neo started going to school she didn't talk or play with other kids which led to kids picking on her and bullying the small girl. The teachers never stoped the bullying and even laughed at it sometimes as they watched the girl suffer through her school life.

Until the first day of Neo's 8th grade year. Neo finally snapped as a long time bully of hers tripped her in the hallway. As her face collided with the floor she felt her anger from all the years of bullying finally boil over as she sat up and turned to glare at the laughing group of boys in front of her. They didn't stand a chance as she mutilated their bodies beyond recognition. Neo had never felt more free, but terrified at the same time as she viewed the bloody pile of bodies beneath her. Blood had covered the young girl's hands as it hit her what she had done, and she ran. She ran until she couldn't run anymore, and collapsed in an alleyway on the other side of the island of Patch.

When Neo awoke she was sore and utterly disgusted with herself, and nearly threw up at the sight of the dried blood on her hands. Trying to ignore the awful feeling on her hands she clutched her parasol close to her body as she began to shake with guilt. Neo stayed in the alley and didn't move for almost a week until a certain fiery blonde decided to take a shortcut home one day.

Neo's schedule consisted of crying until she fell asleep and once she woke up she'd repeat the cycle. She had just woken up and began to shake as her silent sobs started to tear through her tiny form that was curled against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"Hey... are you okay?" A concerned voice pierced through Neo's silence and made her stop crying to cautiously glance back at whomever had just tried to talk to her. Neo's eyes raked over a luscious mane of blonde hair before meeting their owner's large, concerned lilac eyes. Neo's own eyes widened at how close the stranger was to her before she turned her body around a bit to face the woman.

The blonde woman had a friendly aura about her, so Neo didn't feel that the woman in front of her would harm her. Neo felt the woman's eyes sweep over her small, curled up form before they returned to her own eyes with a glint of curiosity in them now as she waited for the petite girl in front of her to speak. Neo frowned slightly as she realized the girl in front of her was waiting for her to speak. Neo opened and closed her mouth multiple times before looking at the girl in hope that she understood what Neo was trying to communicate to her. Neo was surprised to see the blonde nod before sitting down in front of Neo.

"Can't talk huh? My sister can't either. She's younger than me but she's the light of my life. So what's a huntress in training doing in an alleyway, filthy and hungry?" The blonde asked Neo curiously as she leaned back and used her hands to support her.

Neo stared at the blonde with an amused glint in her eyes as she waited for the blonde to realize that in the past 2 minutes Neo hadn't gained the ability to freely speak to the stranger.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot! Do you know sign language?" The blonde immediately asked after apologizing which made Neo smile at how quickly the girl in front of her could change the subject. Neo whole her head, she had never had anyone to talk to before so she didn't learn how to speak or do sign language. At her response the blonde's face lit up with excitement.

"Oh! I could totally teach you sign language! I could also bring you food and stuff since you look really skinny! I mean I usually come this way everyday after school to get home, but I could stay for an hour a day and teach you sign language if you'd like?" The girl's eyes were practically buldging out of her head at her idea as she looked at Neo for her thoughts on her idea. Neo didn't see anything wrong with learning how to communicate plus maybe this blonde could help her make something out of herself. Neo gave the younger girl a curt nod which made the girl jump up and pump her fist into the air. Once she landed she spun around to grin at Neo.

"I'm Yang by the way!" Yang told the older girl happily before extending her hand out for Neo to shake. With a playful roll of her eyes, Neo took the rambunctious blonde's hand and shook it without a clue about what she'd gotten herself into.

True to her word, Yang visited Neo everyday for the next year. Neo became a master at sign language in no time and overtime gained her first friend as she let her walls down around the crazy blonde. Yang had pulled Neo back into the land of the living as they spent nearly every free moment they had together. While Neo knew that Yang would have continued to feed her she decided she didn't want to continue to rely on the blonde's kindness forever and began pick pocketing people while Yang was at school. As long as Yang didn't find out everything would continue how it'd always been, but of course Yang had to find out.

It had been a particularly warm spring day when Yang found out about Neo's method of feeding herself. Neo had just nabbed a snarky business man's wallet and was sitting through her gains when she bumped into a person and fell backwards. Neo frowned before looking up and felt her heart sunk as she saw the familiar blonde mane of Yang picking up the wallet she had just stolen. She immediately sprung up and attempted to snatch the wallet out of Yang's grasp, but Yang just held it above her head which was well out of Neo's reach.

"What the shit Neo! I know for a fact that this isn't your wallet!" Yang yelled angrily at the small multicolored girl in front of her as some red started to bleed into Yang's lilac eyes. Neo shook a little at the angry Yang in front of her before glaring back up at the girl. Who was she to tell the older girl what she should and couldn't do!

 **It was some snarky businessman's wallet anyway! He has plenty of money to spare!**

Neo signed angrily at Yang as she managed to grab the wallet back from her as she had dropped her guard as she interpreted Neo's signing.

"Stealing isn't right Neo! If you needed money for food you could have just asked instead of stealing from others!" Yang practically growled at the girl who was now ignoring her as she pulled the cash out the If wallet which only further angered Yang as she grabbed the smaller girl's wrist and wrenched it away from the cash. Neo glared up at Yang before slipping her wrist away from her and pushing the cash from the wallet into her pocket before dropping the wallet on the ground.

 **You need to chill Yang.**

Neo casually signed at Yang who was nearly on fire at this point. Neo looked at the easily agitated girl with a smirk as she twirled her parasol while waiting for Yang to calm down like she always did. However, Yang didn't calm down and instead turned to push straight through a wall which made Neo freeze in her tracks as she looked at the damage with surprise.

"Chill? Chill! CHILL?! How the hell am I supposed to chill when my best friend is a fucking criminal! Not to mention that this will be the last fucking time we can hang out and your acting like a bitch!" Yang shrieked at me as she let out another yell and punched the wall again causing it to shatter into pieces under the anger fueled strength. Neo was rooted to the spot where she had been standing as a cyclone of confusion, worry, anger, sadness, and many other emotion flooded through her. What did Yang mean it would be the last time they would hang out? While Neo was stuck inside her own head, Yang had stalked towards the older girl before picking the girl up by her collar which snapped her out of her confused daze.

"Ya know. When I met you in the alleyway nearly a year ago I saw a sad, broken girl who had done something, but I didn't pry because I thought you'd eventually open up to me. You said no secrets Neo. Why'd you lie then? Lie about why you left? Just why? Those boys didn't deserve what you did to them." Yang choked out as she began sobbing before releasing Neo to fall to the ground as she buried her hands in her hands to cry.

Neo could barely process what had just happened, but her body moved on its own as she ran. Ran from the one person who had shown any sort of affection for her. Ran from her first and only friend, and ran from problems like she did before.

Neo never saw Yang again after that. She spent the next few months trying to forget about her, and turned to a life of crime to keep herself fed. She never involved herself in anything too crazy. She mostly took jobs as bodyguards for crime lords and such which paid well and gave her a place to sleep, and while her new way of life was distracting it couldn't keep Neo's mind from wandering to Yang every night before she went to bed. Neo always thought back to the times she and Yang would prank people on the streets with her illusions, and other great memories should had made with the girl that never failed to make the small girl smile.

Neo thought frequently about one memory in particular though. The time Yang had told her about how she wanted to become a huntress and attend Beacon Academy. Neo wasn't sure why this memory plagued her thoughts constantly until she realized that she desired to become a huntress like Yang. Neo had been training to become one at the school before she had killed those boys.

With a goal in mind now, Neo began to start training herself to be able to pass Beacon's admission process. Surprisingly, she passed the admission process with flying colors and made it into Beacon. Now all she had to do was wait for the year to start. The next few months passed by in a blur for Neo, and before she knew it she was standing at the terminal in Vale after a gruelsome flight from Patch. Never again would Neo take an airplane anywhere. She hadn't brought much with her because she didn't own much, so it all fit in one small backpack that was currently located on her back as she strolled through shuttle transit center towards her destination. Neo twirled her parasol as she looked at the small shops that were littered between the terminals. Patch didn't have all the fancy little souvenir shops or brand name food shops that would have distracted most, but Neo pushed on past the tempting little shops with her head held high as she finally reached the terminal heading to Beacon Academy.

Neo grinned widely at finally having made it to the terminal, having previously gotten lost multiple times in the large place. She had managed to find a directory after 3 failed attempts at finding the terminal herself. She looked at the time until departure which indicated that she still had about 5 minutes until they left, so she decided to wander around the terminal and check out the people she'd be spending the next few years with. Neo wiggled her way through the sea of people who all seemed to know each other in one way or another. None of them took much notice of the small tricolored girl weaving between their legs all of them too engrossed in their conversations. Neo managed to wiggle her way off to the side of the crowd after a few minutes to take a breather from the jungle of bodies when she felt something slam into her legs and send her flying forward towards the ground. Her eyes closed as she hit the ground and let out a silent groan in pain before moving to get up, wondering why the person that had clearly just ran into her wasn't saying sorry at least. As she stood up she came nearly eye to eye with a peculiar sight she hadn't expected.

In front of her stood a clearly upset girl who looked a few years younger than herself, but certainly not old enough to be going to Beacon. That was besides the point though as she noticed the fuzzy pair of wolf ears pressed against the younger girl's red tipped black hair as she gazed at the ground. Neo looked at the young wolf Faunus in front of her with newfound curiosity towards her instead of the previous anger she had held for the wolf since she'd pushed her down. Neo realized that the girl's hands were beginning to shake and fidget around which made her worry that she was about to cry. Instead she was met with a frantic amount of signing from the girl which shocked Neo as she tried to interpret the frantic speed at which the girl was signing.

 **I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to knock you over I was just running from my sister because she was being mean, and I'm really rea-**

Neo reached out to grasp the panicking girl's hand which felt warm and soft in her own before retracting them after having that though, confusion washing over her before she gave the younger girl a reassuring.

 **It's okay.**

Neo signed to the girl which caused her to freeze in place. Neo bit her lip and waited for the girl to respond and when she didn't Neo began to wonder if her sign language was rusty from not having been used for the last year. With no sign that the wolf Faunus was going to be moving anytime soon Neo decided to leave her there, so she could board the shuttle before it got too crowded and she would be forced to stand. She took a seat near the windows and gazed out them as the last boarding call for the shuttle was announced and she noticed four figures running towards the shuttle. The first one to make it was a bunny Faunus by the looks of it who was closely followed by a girl with Raven black hair that reminded Neo of a cat. She felt herself grin as a whirlwind of red and rose petals came rushing at the shuttle before stopping at the entrance and revealing the girl from earlier. Neo watched the last figure with curiosity as she started to be able to make out a massive mop of blonde hair on top of the figure. As it grew closer to the shuttle Neo felt her heart drop as she could make out a pair of lilac eyes that she could never forget even if she tried. It was Yang. Yang Xiao Long. The wolf girl was now silently laughing at the blonde who had collapsed on the floor of shuttle as Neo watched from the other side of the shuttle with a sinking feeling in her gut.

It was going to be one interesting year at Beacon.

I'll be editing the first chapter a bit to change how Summer died, but other than that everything will be remaining the same! Just was bored in class, so I decided to write where Neo was coming from and give her perspective on the first chapter! I'm happy to announce that we've hit 100 followers and over 2.5k views! I also want to thank everyone that's left reviews whether they were constructive or just stating your opinion or thoughts because they help me write better chapters and know that you guys still want more! As of now, I'll probably just be posting these chapters as I write them instead of releasing one weekly because who wants to wait that long! We already have to wait a week for each new episode of RWBY!


	5. The Muted Rose: A Small Update

So as of right now I plan to release a new chapter sometime tomorrow after the release of the RWBY episode which I'll be watching as soon as it drops, woooooo! Just wanted to give you guys an update since I haven't added to this story in a few days while I have been posting to my other story as well as having written a oneshot~


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